The resumption of duty by members of the Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria in Kwara State on Monday was a much desired tonic that has rejuvenated judicial activities in the state. 

Judicial activities had been paralysed since Feb 20 when the workers embarked on a warning strike after the Supreme Court, on Feb 17, reinstated Justice Raliat Elelu-Habeeb as the state chief judge.

The crisis in the state's judiciary, which culminated in the removal of the CJ, the judicial process leading to her reinstatement and the JUSUN strike presented a lot of lessons, according to stakeholders.

Legal professionals have warned that there should be no recurrence to avoid embarrassing the judiciary, especially the apex court.

A former president, Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. Olisa Agbakoba, said the Supreme Court was right in reinstating Elelu-Habeeb, adding that it was a matter of due process. He stated that the woman was removed wrongly and so was entitled to be reinstated.

He advised that the grievances of the workers in the state were issues that she should endeavour to resolve. He said that since she was removed, there had been a lot of complaints against her.

Agbokoba said, "I will advise her to review the style of her administration and gain the confidence of the workers and everybody in Kwara State. It is the role of a leader to get the cooperation of the workers. The role of a leader is to settle issues and show visionary leadership. She should call the workers, understand their grievances and see those she can deal with, if they are reasonable."

For a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Yusuf Ali, who, incidentally was the counsel to the Kwara State House of Assembly during the legal tussle, the lesson is that law and reason will always prevail.  

According to him, at least, JUSUN has registered its voice, and "those who want to hear have heard." He stated that the whole episode would advance the judiciary and propel all the actors forward, including legal and judicial officials.

He, however, advised Elelu-Habeeb to be a mother to all the workers and address the complaints raised by JUSUN.

A former chairman, NBA, Ilorin branch, Mr. Salman Jawando, said trade unions should properly behave as trade unions and not allow "any person to hijack them and cause them to embark on an illegal act."

He stated that the strike of JUSUN could not be located within the context of a trade dispute and so was illegal. 

"From the CJ down, I think everybody must have learnt that there is the need for us to maintain industrial harmony and have cordial relationship between seniors and juniors at work place," Jawando said.

Mohammed Akanbi, who was the state NBA chairman three years ago when the crisis began, said the main lesson of the impasse was that people should not think that they could frustrate the judgement of the Supreme Court or even of any court.

He added that it was not a good thing to attempt to frustrate court judgements, especially by staff of the judiciary. According to him, that is more embarrassing.     

He stated that the apex court truly gave a landmark judgement, because it appeared that it was easy to remove a CJ. He noted that the Supreme Court had said that the governor and the house of assembly alone could not remove her, adding that the National Judicial Council should have had an input. 

Akanbi said, "For me, about all those allegations of JUSUN, why did they not complain about her when she had not been removed?

"They just rode on the allegations to try to frustrate the resumption of the woman. If they had any complaints, they could be addressed as the CJ has resumed."

Akanbi said the crisis started about three years ago, when a police officer allegedly assaulted a lawyer. He added that the lawyer went to court and filed a direct complaint action. Consequently, the matter was assigned to a magistrate. 

He stated that unfortunately, the police felt very bad that one of them was summoned to the court and they allegedly got in touch with Elelu-Habeeb, who allegedly got in touch with the magistrate to try and terminate the case. 

Akanbi said the magistrate felt that there was no need to terminate the case, maintaining that since it was a matter in the court, the accused police officer should appear and if he was not guilty, he would be acquitted.

According to Akanbi, the then Commissioner of Police unfortunately felt bad and was said to have made a report to the CJ and Elelu-Habeeb allegedly felt that the magistrate should hands off the case.

He said that at that stage, the NBA came in and said that the magistrate should not hands off the case. He alleged that   the CJ then transferred the magistrate out of the division and thereby allegedly frustrated the hearing of the case.

Akanbi said, "We felt bad that if there is a matter in court before a magistrate, and the CJ now transferred the magistrate, that is using administrative power to truncate judicial process. As a result of that, we approached the CJ and told her to rescind her decision. We wanted the CJ to recall the transferred magistrate to his division and let him hear the matter. But she did not do that. That led to a face-off between the bar and the CJ. Then we went on to boycott court for about a week."

 Our correspondent learnt that the then governor, Bukola Saraki, apparently trying to save the situation from degenerating, and from further crippling activities in the state judiciary, sent a letter to the house of sssembly.

The House was said to have had a public hearing but before they could hear the side of the CJ, she had been removed. 

Consequently, Elelu-Habeeb went to court and the matter went from the Federal High Court to Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. Finally, the Supreme Court reversed her removal.

On learning about the development, JUSUN promptly said its members would not work with the CJ, but curiously claimed they were not opposed to the apex court's verdict.

The chairperson of JUSUN in the state, Mrs. Folake Laaro, said they would embark on a warning strike from Feb 20. Though the state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Kamaldeen Ajibade, and the Chief Press Secretary to Kwara State Governor, Alhaji Abdulwahab Oba, said the government was ready to comply with the apex court's judgement and that the office of the CJ had been made vacant for her resumption, JUSUN commenced an indefinite strike on Feb 20, which was ratified by about 580 of its members.

Laaro said, "It is important to reiterate here that the resolve of Kwara State judiciary workers to embark on this protest was exclusively a decision of the entire workforce aimed at protecting the image, integrity and the overall interest of the judicial system/administration from total collapse.

"This, our genuine intention should not be misconstrued to mean a disobedience or non-conformity with the judgement of the Supreme Court. We wholeheartedly support the judgement." 

The NBA (Ilorin branch), led by its chairman, Mr. Rafiu Balogun, and the chairman of the Kwara chapter of Nigerian Labour Congress, Alhaji Faruk Akanbi, had pleaded with the workers to resume but JUSUN remained adamant. Also, the National Publicity Secretary of Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria, Alhaji Marwan Adamu, had dissociated JUSUN national body from the strike.

The Action Congress of Nigeria and a faction of the Alliance for Democracy in the state condemned the strike.

A new twist was, however, added to the saga when the NBA and the state government had an altercation.

The NBA, in a statement signed by Balogun and the secretary, Mr. Sulyman Abaya, urged JUSUN to stop the strike, adding that all machinery should be activated for the CJ to resume work immediately.

According a former president, Court of Appeal, Justice Mustapha Akanbi, a retired justice of the Supreme Court, Saidu Kawu, summoned Akanbi, the Grand Khadi, Justice AbdulKadir Orire and former Chief Judge, Justice Saka Yusuf to intervene, saying the jurists should not keep quiet when things were going wrong in the state.

Akanbi said, "We have tried to persuade the striking workers to appreciate that nobody can kick against the decision of the Supreme Court. It is the apex court in the land, its decision is final, therefore to lock up court premises will be going against the ethics of the profession.

"We tried to persuade them to appreciate the fact that in the long run, the judiciary in Kwara will be the loser because the appointing authority, which is also responsible for discipline of judges, is the National Judicial Council. The chairman of the council is the Chief Justice of Nigeria. He is also the head of the Supreme Court. So, when a decision like this is taken, we must all obey it no matter what anybody feels about it. If you don't obey it, you are in contempt of the court.

"The effect of it again is that if they continue to lock up the place, no CJ can be appointed by the NJC. No new judge will be appointed in Kwara, no progress will be recorded in the judiciary in Kwara."